• Lancaster County colleges/universities could see enrollment decrease: Higher education is America is preparing for a drop in enrollment in perspective students. Lancaster County colleges are preparing as well. Projections that number of Pennsylvania high school graduates will fall to nearly 10,000 within the next five years. According to, the community indicators, a project of the Steinman Foundation, that collects data to provide insight into trends across Lancaster County over time, the rate of Lancaster County high school graduates enrolling in a post-secondary institution decreased by 10 percentage points to 53% from 2008 to 2023 and is lower than the state rate of 59% and neighboring counties Chester (72%), Berks (61%) and York (56%). (Source: LNP)
• Local grocery stores adapt to big supermarket competition: After large supermarket chains such as Wegman’s and Whole Foods entered Lancaster County, along with regional chain Giant expanding its locations, local supermarkets struggled to keep up. Darrenkamp’s, a local chain, closed in 2018. Others also folded, including Ferguson & Hassler and Musser’s. Others, however, adapted, such as Oregon Dairy and John Herr’s Village Market. Both of them belong to a consortium of local supermarkets called Family-Owned Markets. One way they have adapted is focusing on quality local groceries rather than trying to sell low-profit goods such as paper products. The Family-Owned Markets consortium currently ranks number 8 in the county by size. (Source: LNP)
• Pennsylvania’s three new state parks open to public: As the weather warms, Pennsylvania officials announced that improvements are coming to Pennsylvania’s newest state parks, which are planned to be fully operational by 2026. Two of them are near Lancaster County, in York and Chester Counties. The third is in Wyoming County. Susquehanna Riverlands State Park in York County offers vistas of the Susquehanna River and a historic farm which served as a stop on the Underground Railroad, which is being prepared for visitors. (Source: LNP)
• New community center in York to have 50 vendors: The Bakery Complex in York will open with 50 vendors already committed to the space. Formerly the JB Fishel’s Bakery Building, the space will feature not only food, but also shopping and a hair studio, and they are seeking entertainment vendors as well such as escape rooms. A second-floor common space will be used for events such as line dancing, comedy shows, and live music. (Source: FOX 43)
• Nation/world: ‘Anora’ wins Best Picture, four others at Oscars (Source: NBC News) Ukraine gets $2 billion from British government after Zelensky visits Prime Minister (Source: NBC News) Kroger CEO resigns amid investigation (Source: WGAL) U.S. tariffs on Canada, Mexico, China to take effect Tuesday (Source: BBC News)
